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Education budgets go to governor’s desk for approval

Posted on 05/29/13 at 3:43pm

The House and Senate this week passed education funding bills that provide slight increases for K-12 schools, community colleges and universities — but still fall short of providing proper funding for public education.

House Bill 4228, which comprises the School Aid, community colleges and higher education budgets for the 2013-14 Fiscal Year, passed the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. The funding bill now goes to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk for his signature.

The state’s lowest-funded districts will see an increase of $60 per pupil, while the wealthiest districts will get a $30 increase. Other districts will receive proportional increase between $30 and $60 per pupil.

Higher education

Public universities will get a $24.9 million increase in state aid, bringing the total state investment to $1.43 billion. In addition, public universities must cap tuition increases at 3.75 percent or else be ineligible for performance funding.

Community colleges

House Bill 4228 provides $336 million in state funding for community colleges, giving each of the state’s 28 community colleges roughly 2 percent in additional state said. The budget continues the practice of taking money from the School Aid Fund to pay for community colleges; $197.6 million of the community college budget comes from K-12 funds.